Yousaf Yohana became Muhammad Yousaf

In 1992, Yousuf Youhana dreamt that he was playing with Saeed Anwar (a clean-shaven and stylish left-hander opener). It took five years for his dream to come true. Saeed Anwar played a role in introducing him to the cricket hierarchy in Pakistan, played with him and then finally got him converted to Islam. Many people in Pakistan still question whether Saeed Anwar was Yousuf’s dream or vice versa. Saeed Anwar is part of a coterie of many former Pakistani cricketers who are consistently working at seeding orthodoxy among Muslim cricketers.

Three years ago, Anwar sported a flowing beard on his face and next year he formally quit the arena. The reason for Anwar’s conversion from a music and art lover to an orthodox Muslim is generally attributed to his three-year-old mentally-retarded daughter’s death.

He then became a part of the Tablighi Jamaat of Raiwind (a place in Punjab famed for the country’s biggest religious congregation held each year) and joined a select group of former cricketers to make the national team religious minded. Youhana has shifted his two children from an English medium school in Lahore to a modern Islamic madrassa and he himself will soon be seen sporting a flowing beard.

Anwar frequently addresses Tablighi Jamaat’s meetings across the country and recently he told an audience that he was regretful that his cricketing life was not also dedicated to Islam. He said the scales had fallen from his eyes and he was now completely dedicated to Islam.

He said Shahid Afridi, Mushtaq Ahmed, Inzamam ul Haq and Saqlain Mushtaq too had joined him and become a votary of Tablighi Jamaat. The crowd was crying as he made his speech.

Noted intellectual Khaled Ahmed condemns the Tablighi Jamaat’s influence on the team and asks authorities to be watchful.

“Tablighi Jamaat is converting Pakistani sports into a losing enterprise. Another decade and we might have to ground all the sportsmen. At least there would be no national humiliation after that.” He adds, “PCB bosses should take note of what is happening under their nose. Youhana’s conversion is an eye-opener.”

Ahmed has some disturbing facts about Tablighi Jamaat. “One has to be careful about the fact that Tablighi Jamaat is on the watch-list in the West, and our increasingly bearded cricket team could be targeted under the new anti-terrorist laws being introduced in the UK and Australia.

Americans say many al Qaeda members have claimed connection to Tablighi Jamaat, including the ‘American Taliban’ John Walker Lindh, captured in Afghanistan.”

After becoming an orthodox Muslim, Saeed Anwar was given the primary task to work on his teammates and his former cricket mates. Soon the team emerged with strong religious tendencies.

This is evident from the gestures they make on the field. More often than not, they thank God for their success even before greeting team-mates who bring them victory.

Former Pakistan Captain Salim Malik has also jumped onto the Raiwind bandwagon. He has formally joined the Tablighi Jamaat and is busy spreading Islam.

This is the same Salim Malik who was banned by the Pakistan Cricket Board from domestic and international cricket on the recommendations of Justice Qayyum Commission for corruption.

Then Malik spent three days at Raiwind accompanied by Saeed Anwar, Waqar Younis and Inzamam ul Haq. Malik now prays five times a day. “Going back to religion is not seeking refuge,” Malik says, “It is simply going back to one’s roots.”

Youhana has been indebted to Anwar for bringing him into the team and
in the process developed a close friendship with Anwar’s brother, Javed.

The two siblings got the young Christian to attend the Raiwind gatherings while his wife Tania (now Fatima) has been handed over to the cricketers’ wives to take her to religious home gatherings.

Sources in the cricket team say Youhana had formally decided to convert and got the blessings of Maulana jamil and Maulana Abdul Wahab in Raiwind. Both clerics allowed him to keep it secret because he feared his conversion would ruin his relationship with his parents in the process.

“There were two things in Youhana’s mind. One, he wanted to cement his presence in the team and second, he wanted his bond with his parents to stay intact till he achieved a permanent place in the game,” a former Pakistani cricketer says.

Although Youhana denies his conversion is aimed at clinching the team’s captaincy in the future, sources say he was dejected when he was stripped of vice captaincy and replaced by Younus Khan. For many, religion is a viable solution in this Muslim-dominated country.

Youhana kept the secret successfully for three long years and even his mother only learnt about it after he offered Umrah (pilgrimage) in Saudi Arabia along with Inzamam ul Haq and other teammates who had originally went there to play three matches against the Lashings World-XI (the series could not kick off due to sponsorship controversy).

On his return, Youhana formally announced his conversion by offering prayers in Qaddafi Stadium during a training camp along with skipper Inzamam and teammates Shahid Afridi, Abdur Razzaq, Taufiq Omer, Rao Iftikhar, Kamran Akmal, Arshad Khan and many PCB officials.

Interestingly, the prayer leader was Naeem Butt, who was formerly a TV and stage artist and has now become a preacher. After the prayers, all the teammates hugged Youhana and congratulated him for embracing Islam. Yousuf says Prophet Muhammad is his ideal and would follow his teachings for the rest of his life.

Now, Danish Kaneria is the only non-Muslim (a Hindu) member of the Pakistan cricket team. PCB officials fear he may be the next target for Saeed Anwar and company.